Agently

Sources

Local Folders

Connect local directories to Agently so agents can read your notes, code, data files, and documents — all without leaving your machine.

Why Local Folders?

Many of your most valuable assets live on your local machine: your Obsidian vault, a code repository, research notes, or a folder of PDFs. Local folder sources let you put that data in context without uploading it anywhere.

All filesystem access happens entirely on-device. Files are read by the local Agently process and injected into the AI provider's API call — they do not pass through Agently's servers.

Adding a Local Folder

  1. 1.Go to Settings → Sources → Add Source → Local Folder.
  2. 2.Click Choose Folder and select the directory you want to grant access to.
  3. 3.Optionally set include/exclude glob patterns (e.g. only index *.md files, exclude node_modules/).
  4. 4.Choose an access level: Read Only or Read + Write.
  5. 5.Save. The folder is now available as a Source in your conversations.

Common Use Cases

Obsidian Vault

Let the agent search your notes, summarize linked pages, find related concepts, and create new notes.

path: ~/Documents/ObsidianVault
include: **/*.md

Code Repository

Ask the agent to explain code, find bugs, write tests, or generate documentation.

path: ~/code/my-project
include: **/*.{ts,tsx,js,py}
exclude: node_modules/, .git/, dist/

Research Papers

Let the agent read and summarize PDFs, find citations, or compare findings across papers.

path: ~/Documents/Papers
include: **/*.pdf

Data Folder

Analyze datasets, summarize distributions, or extract specific records.

path: ~/data/project
include: **/*.{csv,json,jsonl}

Filtering Files

Use glob patterns to control which files are accessible:

// Include only markdown and TypeScript files
include: ["**/*.md", "**/*.ts", "**/*.tsx"]

// Exclude common noise directories
exclude: [
  "node_modules/**",
  ".git/**",
  "dist/**",
  "build/**",
  "**/*.min.js"
]

Agently builds an index of matching files so queries are fast even in large directories. The index is updated automatically when files change.

Read vs Write Access

Read Only (recommended)

The agent can search and read files but cannot modify or create them. Safe for any folder you want to protect.

Read + Write

The agent can create, modify, and delete files. With Ask to Edit permission, each write requires your approval first.